Chamber and committees

Scottish Water has confirmed that it did not carry out any activities in the reservoir system connected to the River Devon which could have resulted in a substantial change in water levels on the River Devon on 26 January 2008. Scottish Water''s reservoirs in this area actually act as a buffer in periods of heavy rainfall and reduce the rate that water enters the River Devon by absorbing rainfall into the body of the reservoir.

On 26 January 2008, river levels would have been affected by the unprecedented level of rainfall which had occurred over the previous three days, with especially heavy rainfall on 25 January. Scottish Water records rainfall levels on site and this information is regularly provided to the Met Office. Over the three day period from 23 January to 25 January 2008, Scottish Water recorded rainfall levels of 182mm. The rainfall on 25 January was 99.2mm, and records from 1950 to 2008 show that this is the highest level of rainfall ever recorded within a 24-hour period at this location. Prior to this, the highest level of rainfall within a 24-hour period had been 70.9mm on 2 May 1982.

The Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order (2004) prohibits the routine use of unsuitable temporary accommodation for homeless households with children or pregnant women. The order does not explicitly prevent the use of bed and breakfast accommodation, rather it requires that such accommodation meet the standards set out in the order.

More generally with regard to all homeless households, the policy is that the use of bed and breakfast accommodation should be minimised. The Code of Guidance on homelessness states that local authorities should only use bed and breakfast to provide temporary accommodation as a last resort.

It is for local authorities to decide how to discharge their duty to provide temporary accommodation for homeless households, subject to the requirements in the legislation and the fact that local authorities must have regard to the Code of Guidance. If a household is not content with the accommodation provided then they have the right to appeal to the local authority.

The government is not aware of any such circumstances as set out in this question.

We have not examinedthe divorce laws of Poland in any detail. We research and study the legalsystems of other countries where we feel that their systems and practices can informand develop policy here, mindful that care is needed in importing features of othersystems which may not be directly applicable to Scotland.

Information relatingto legal aid awards is collected centrally by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. It doesnot, however, hold definitive information on the nationality of individuals whoare awarded legal aid. The board has advised that a search of its database produceda total of 16 applications relating to divorce action where the applicant’s placeof birth is listed as “Poland”. This cannot be taken as definitive sincethe applicant may have specified a town or city rather than the country in the application.

The information requestedis not held centrally.

Information is not held centrallyon the cost to local authorities of the 2003 Scottish Parliament and local governmentelections. However, information published in Scottish Local Government Statistics2003-04 shows that local authorities spent  £4.2 million in that year on conductingelections and £7.2 million on the registration of electors. Full details of thepublication are at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20724/52956.

Information is not held centrallyon the cost to local authorities of the 2007 Scottish Parliament and local governmentelections. Information is provided by local authorities on the overall annual costsof holding elections and for the registration of electors and this information ispublished annually in Scottish Local Government Statistics. Scottish Local GovernmentStatistics 2006-07 is due to be published in February.

The Scotland Office is responsiblefor meeting costs associated with the Scottish Parliament elections. The main expenditureassociated with running local government elections is normally met by local authoritiesfrom within their own budgets. For the 2007 elections the Scottish Government fundedthe following specific elements.

Funding to local authorities associated with the introduction of electronic counting	£3.56 million
Research on format of local government ballot paper	£22,795
Electronic counting software verification	£12,955
Printing and web conversion costs of code of practice for observers at local authority elections	£268
Estimated costs of printing and web conversion of legislation dealing with the local authority elections and local government boundary review	£7,200
VoteScotland campaign - run jointly with the Electoral Commission	£1.25 million
Payments to DRS Data & Research Services	£1.26 million

 

The main expenditure on the Scottish Parliament elections was by the Scotland Office and on the local elections by localauthorities. Detailed information on those costs is not held centrally. The ScottishGovernment spent just over £384,200 in total in 2003 in connection with the Scottish Parliament and local government elections. Of this, £371,600 was spent on a publicitycampaign for both elections (carried out jointly with the Electoral Commission)with the balance spent on opinion research and research on media coverage specificto local authority elections.

Scottishministers have appointed reporters from the Scottish Government Directorate of Planningand Environmental Appeals to conduct a public local inquiry into the proposed Beaulyto Denny transmission line. Their role is to hear and consider all the evidencepresented to the inquiry, including both oral and written evidence, and to reportback to ministers who will ultimately be responsible for determining the application.Historic Scotland’s written evidence to the inquiry will be considered as part ofthat process. It would be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to offer commenton any evidence which is subject to this inquiry process.